Question Number: 29928

Law 13 - Free Kicks 11/16/2015

RE: Competitive Under 15

Greg S of Ventura, CA USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 29919

I hate to beat a dead horse but I'd like to follow up on your descriptions. In the FIFA Laws of the Game book it states solely that 'If a player decides to take a free kick quickly and an opponent who is less than 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball intercepts it, the referee must allow play to continue.' Nothing about movement to intercept occurring before or after the kick. In contrast, in the USSF Advise to Referees, it states 'Of course, if the opponent's interference with the ball from within ten yards is enabled by moving, jumping, or extending a leg (what I would think fits a definition of 'movement') to the ball, then the opponent has violated Law 13.' That does not seem consistent with the FIFA statement, it does include provisions for the opponent moving, but says nothing about whether the movement occurred before or after the kick. The USSF Guide seems contrary to the FIFA interpretation, and your 'before or after the kick' contingency seems to be more restrictive than what FIFA says. I can't find anything in an official document about movement before or after the kick aside from what you've described here. Your description of what does and does not constitute an infraction is clear enough but it doesn't seem entirely consistent with two key sources of the Law (well, for the latter a key source in the U.S.). Can you address this seeming discrepancy? Also, being the pedantic detail-obsessed referee that I am, can you provide a source for the interpretation that movement to intercept the ball after it's kicked is OK but not before? Maybe some other clarifying publication?

Thanks very much. You guys are great.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Greg,
ask yourself which occurs first, the mistake or the cheating? Remember the mistake PUTS the ball in play early but the cheating is misconduct occurring before the ball is in play. If I see a defender responding to the quickly taken free kick by stopping or moving closer to the free kick before it is kicked and as a result he intercepts the ball I will caution, show a yellow card and restart because he cheated and impacted play, not that the attackers made a mistake! If the attacker simply spots the ball and kicks it near or towards a nearby opponent to try and claim it is a caution that is not only a mistake but a theoretical cheat as well by the attacker, conceivably even a form of USB. Play on! As a referee you will have an opinion .
Was it deliberately kicked into an opponent to try and draw the card or accidently kicked into or near a retreating opponent who intercepts? Play ON?
Was it quickly kicked but an opponent has already moved in to deny the opportunity for it to succeed by failing to respect the distance and delay the restart?

The LOTG are not always specific to a single incident but try to cover a broad spectrum of events and offer contingency decisions based on the opinion of the referee. Look at the convoluted offside interpretations and the constant rejuggle of words and phrases to arrive at what seems to be a fairly straight forward proposition.


The FREE kick is just that, it is FREE, the opponents who JUST cheated by fouling are NOT permitted to do anything to stop the kick from occurring except withdraw a MINIMUM of ten yards. Nowadays the referees are so challenged by this SIMPLE fact we are reduced to using foam and making almost any free kick into a ceremonial one. I put the BLAME squarely on FIFA for that. The flagrant disrespect for distance and delaying restarts because they know these same players will likely foul and be sent off for what many choose to say is now just part of the game and not worth a caution! They are certainly not supposed to get away with additional cheating.


Granted, we do not reward mistakes, so if the kicker kicks it too close or at an opponent who was in fact withdrawing, who was in fact complying with the LOTG then that opponent has committed no misconduct, he is free to try and intercept the ball no matter where he is within the 10 yards. The concept of fair play is at times difficult to apply a set of rules laws or conditions but ask yourself this do you want to punish a mistake and reward a cheater Or fix the mistake by punishing the cheater? You must remember we are NOT seeking to reward stupidity or a way to ignore misconduct here, we are seeking justice
The actionable MISCONDUCT must be clearly seen in the opinion of the referee to have occurred PRIOR to the ball being put into play , in order to have the kick retaken. The action to disreguard the distance and to delay the restart is ONLY misconduct. It does not change the restart. Mind you if the actionable misconduct DOES NOT stop the free kick, we play on, no caution no yellow card is shown. The defender gets a free pass for having no discernable impact. br> Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Greg
The following six words are key to this IN THE OPINION OF THE REFEREE.
What has been attempted is to give advice to the referee as to form that opinion.
Now this is what Law 13 has to say
** If, when a free kick is taken, an opponent is closer to the ball than the required distance: the kick is retaken
All opponents must be at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball until it is in play**
Now that is pretty clear. Now we know that the game is not as black and white as that and there will be times when the kicking team want to get on with play without all the opponents being 10 yards away. This is where the ADVICE on Law 13 comes in and it says
** If a player decides to take a free kick quickly and an opponent who is less than 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball intercepts it, the referee must allow play to continue.
If a player decides to take a free kick quickly and an opponent who is near the ball deliberately prevents him taking the kick, the referee must caution the player for delaying the restart of play.**
Now at each end of that scale there are black and white answers. A defenders runs directly in front of the ball and stops the kick is clear at one end of the scale and at the other end is the situation where the kicker kicks the ball and an opponent who the kicker does not see some distance away perhaps seven/eight yards or so away takes the gift of a pass.
Now where it gets difficult is in that grey area in the middle of interference and interception and what is meant by NEAR. Now we could take it that in every situation where the opponent is NOT 10 yards away that it is a retake as per Law 13. That though does not sit well in the situation of the QFK where the team forgoes the requirement, hence the advice.
One can argue that at the QFK the kicking team has evaluated the circumstances including the position of opponents. By moving towards the ball before the kick those circumstances have changed with the opponent coming nearer to the ball.
So really it is up to the referee. What is his opinion and how does he have to deal with a match situation. If say an attacker says can I take a QFK and on confirmation he kicks the ball into players stood some 6 yards away. He has to take the outcome as he knew the circumstances. Now compare that with the QFK where a player goes to pass to a team mate to his side and unseen coming from his back within a few yards is an opponent who stops the ball. Is the referee going to allow play to continue? Don't think so. He could do so if the opponent was say 7/8/9 yards away and trying to mark the opponent. That is more likely an interception.